Archive of "AIDS hits home", The Sunday Times, 6 March 1988
=Scan of article & page= =Editable text of article= AIDS HITS HOME By K. F. TANG A HAZY awareness of Aids, perhaps today’s most feared and least understood four-letter English word, is beginning to seep into the Singaporean's consciousness. Discos have been told to ban homosexuals from their establishments, people now think twice about receiving food from a friend's chopsticks, employers are engaged in revising employment and recruitment policies just in case one of their workers is stricken with the disease. One dentist is so worried, she is considering, even though she is mid-forties, giving up work for calm of retirement, away from potential infection from her bleeding patients. The heightened consciousness is not anywhere as strong as the health authorities would wish. But at least some people are beginning to be more careful about sexual relationships, though most still appear to think that Aids cannot possibly happen to them. Dr K.V. Ratnam, the Middle Road Hospital dermato-immunologist who discovered the first three cases of Aids, says: "There are no high-risk groups anymore, just high-risk activities." The Singapore public has come some way since April 23, 1983, when Aids first made the headlines here. Then the deadly disease seemed very remote to many. A Straits Times report of that day said: "Most of the Aids victims are homosexual men, but the disease also attacks intravenous drug abusers, haemophiliacs and Haitians." Because the "mysterious" new disease, recognised in the early 80s, destroys the body’s natural immunity to infection, it added, "diseases easily treated in normal people have kiiled seven out of 10 Aids victims so far". Two years to the month later, the dreaded disease was discovered here. Three homosexual men in Singapore were found with an Aids-linked virus. Last April, the first of four Singaporeans, all men, died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, to give it its full name. The second died in October, followed by two more in December. All four died within a year of their diagnosis. The deaths leave 16 known carriers of the Aids virus, of whom two-thirds are male homosexuals who have had sexual encounters with foreigners either locally or abroad. The December deaths climaxed a year in which the collective Singaporean psyche seemed to take a leap in Aids consciousness. Some 66,000 people, for instance, attended Aids exhibitions at six shopping centres in October and November. If there was any doubt that Aids could strike somebody known to Singaporeans, the death of Singapore-born choreographer Goh Choo San removed all doubt. When he died from an Aids-related disease in New York late last year, it was a shock that jolted many out of their complacency. The death of a Singapore Airlines chief steward a little more than a week later brought it even closer to home. The Government, realising the urgency, has set up an Aids Task Force and a National Advisory Committee on Aids to educate the public about the killer disease, for which there is yet no cure. The first world summit on Aids, organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in London at the end of January this year issued a sombre yet optimistic forecast of one million Aids cases by 1991, compared with the 100-million estimate by the US Congress' General Accounting Office earlier. Misconceptions abound largely because medical science still knows little and the public even less. For example, a Dutch airline took out and burned a plane seat on which a man with Aids vomited. Yet Aids is not known to be spread by vomit. In fact, there is no evidence that Aids can be transmitted through air, water, food, mosquito bites or casual contact - even quite close contact - in the course of daily activities. Only direct blood and blood-semen vaginal fluid contact have been conclusively shown to transmit the disease. The Singapore Ministry of Health has issued guidelines for the different professions that may come in contact with these fluids, such as dentists and laboratory technicians, funeral parlour workers, prison personnel, barbers and acupuncturists. Precautions are also taken to protect the blood supply. Dr Ong Yong Wan, medical director of the Blood Transfusion Service and chairman of the Aids Task Force, says they are in line with those in developed countries. They include a medical interview with prospective donors and the screening of donated blood. These safeguards, she says, make the risk of contaminated blood getting into the bank "very small". The risk comes from the so-called "window period" between infection and the body showing signs of it. Blood from a donor in this state would join other normal blood in the Blood Bank. But most often, Aids comes through sexual contact, whether homosexual or heterosexual, when one of the parties is a carrier. Obviously, one of the high risk groups comprises those who indulge in casual sex. In the words of Dr Luisa Lee, medical director of the Health Ministry's Training and Health Education Department, "the best protection is to avoid casual sex altogether". At least one man seems to have taken this advice to heart. Mrs F, a 35-year-old housewife, says: "My husband is actually very flirtatious and used to be quite a playboy even after we were married. But since the Aids publicity, he has been coming home early and I think he fools around a lot less." Among those who persist with their amorous adventures, caution is the in thing. Their armour is the condom, sanctioned by the Health Ministiry which has lifted the ban on its advertising, though some feel it may have the =See also= *Archive of "Three in S’pore found with Aids-linked virus", The Straits Times, 10 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids virus: Doctor who 'found it'", The Sunday Times, 14 April 1985 *Archive of "A chance to be ahead in medicine", The Singapore Monitor, 16 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids on ‘must report’ list", The Straits Times, 17 April 1985 *Archive of "Undergrads to be taught about Aids", The Straits Times, 21 April 1885 *Archive of "16 more may be carriers of Aids virus", The Straits Times, 30 April 1985 *Archive of "Aids doctor thanks mum", The Straits Times, 12 May 1985 *Archive of "Special lab to do Aids tests soon", The Straits Times, 18 May 1985 *Archive of "Man with Aids related virus in hospital", The Straits Times, 21 July 1985 *Archive of "Aids carrier leaves hospital", The Straits Times, 28 July 1985 *Archive of "Ministry steps up Aids drive", The Straits Times, 5 September 1985 *Archive of "Singapore ‘first in the world’ to have 100 % screening of donor blood", The Straits Times, 11 September 1985 *Archive of "S’pore-Stanford research tie-up bid", The Straits Times, 10 October 1985 *Archive of "Aids: 20,000 cleared", The Straits Times, 29 November 1985 *Archive of "200 turn up for first public medical convention", The Straits Times, 28 April 1986 *Archive of "Screening tests likely to uncover more Aids carriers", The Straits Times, 1 May 1986 *Archive of "100 people could be Aids carriers here: Expert", The Straits Times, 3 August 1986 *Archive of "Aids claims first victim here", The Straits Times, 11 April 1987 *Archive of "Fear of Aids pushes up condom sales", The Straits Times, 19 April 1987 *Archive of "Govt dental clinics phasing out boiling", The Straits Times, 1 October 1987 *Earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in Singapore *HIV/AIDS in Singapore's LGBT community *Paddy Chew *Avin Tan *Ajmal Khan *Calvin Tan *Adrian Tyler =References= *KF Tang, "AIDS hits home", The Sunday Times, 6 March 1988[]. =Acknowledgements= This article was archived by Roy Tan. Category:Archive of LGBT articles